Communities in the Mobile App (Student Resource)

In this article, you'll learn how to navigate your Communities using the Thinkific Mobile App, as well as what community features are supported, which ones are not, and what the supported features look like in the app.

Accessing Your Communities and Posts

Our article Getting Started With the Mobile App is a good place to get familiar with the basic navigation of the Mobile app, including where to find your learning products!

Accessing Communities and Posts via the Communities Tab

When you first log in to the Mobile App, you will be brought to your Home screen. From here, select the Communities tab located at the bottom of the app.

Once you locate the community that you want to access, click on it to open it. The next section of this article will explain how to navigate once you've selected your community.

If you've clicked on the wrong community, or you want to return to the previous page once you've opened a community, simply hit the arrow in the top left corner of the community screen to return to the learn tab.

Accessing Posts via a Home Tab

The Latest Posts section is an area on your Home screen and displays the most recent posts from your communities. This area will pull the five most recently created and/or updated posts from all of your available communities and the spaces within those communities.

To view the Latest Posts section, simply click the Home tab at the bottom of the app to open your Home screen.

If you are enrolled in courses, the Latest Posts section will appear beneath the three courses at the top of your Home screen.
If you are not enrolled in courses, you should see the Latest Posts section at the top of your Home screen.

Navigating in a Community

Once you have opened your community, you will see a screen displaying the posts you are following, and all of the spaces within that community.

Following

The Following section at the top of your community page will display the number of posts you are following in a community (next to the Following header with the star). In addition, this section will highlight the three most recent posts that you are following, with the most recent one located on the right. You can also see the number of likes or comments on these posts and the last time they were updated (last activity). Click See all to see the rest of the posts you are following.

If you are not following any posts yet, the Following section at the top of this screen will display the message "You're not following any posts yet. Start following posts, so we can notify you of new comments and help you keep up with the discussion".

Threads that you are following within a post will not show up under the Following section of your community on the Mobile App, unless you are following the main post.

All Spaces

Spaces are areas within a community that the creator of the community has dedicated to certain topics - for example, you might have one space in your community for introductions, and another space to discuss course material or other relevant topics.

The All Spaces section of your community is located directly beneath your Following section. This is where you will find all of the individual spaces that are contained within your community.

To open a space from the All Spaces section, simply click on it.

Once you have opened a space, you will be able to view all of the posts within that space. From here you can also add a new post, add comments and replies to existing posts, and follow (or unfollow if you are already following) posts within the space.

Navigating Within a Community Space

Once you locate and open a community space, you will see a screen displaying a linked course and all posts within that space.

Linked Course

A linked course is a course that the Instructor has connected to a specific space within a community. It is displayed at the top of the community space and will only be visible if you are enrolled in this course. Typically, a creator will link a course and a community that are related to each other in some way. You will see a course name, the number of lessons, and your progress in the course.

Depending on the settings that your Instructor has enabled, you may not see any linked courses in your community spaces.

Posts

Posts within a space allow community members to share updates, ask questions and keep the conversation going. You can see all of the posts made in the community space in chronological order, with the most recent posts at the top.

Instructors and community moderators might choose to pin some posts, which means that they will be visible at the very top, before any other posts. These posts will have a Pinned tag (see the first post in the image below).

Anatomy of a Post

All posts and comments in communities will have a similar structure.

The profile image of the author of the post (initials, if there is no profile image)
The name of the author of the post
More options, including Edit Post and Delete Post (if this is your own post), or Follow Post
If you are already following a post, clicking the ellipses on that post will give you the option to unfollow.
A timestamp indicating how long ago the post was created and a status indicating if the post has been edited (if the post has not been edited, this space will be blank)
A Pinned tag for posts that have been pinned by an Instructor or a Moderator
A Following tag indicating whether you are following the post
Contents of the post
A number of likes and comments on the post
Comments on a post: similar to the main post, you can see the author's name, their profile image when it was posted, whether the comment was edited, and whether you are following the comment. Additionally, you can reply to the comment or follow by clicking on ellipses/three dots
An area where you can write a comment or a reply

In addition to the above, the posts in the Latest Posts feed on a Home tab will show which community and space the post has been added to. Clicking on this section will bring you to the community space where this post was made.

If you've clicked on a post by mistake, or want to exit a post and return to the main Home screen, simply click the arrow in the top left-hand corner.

Interacting with Community Posts

If you've participated in a community before on the web (browser) version of Thinkific, you will already be familiar with how to interact with a post - including how to like and comment, follow/unfollow, and delete your own posts and/or comments.

Posts in the Mobile App look very similar to how they do on the web (browser) site, with a few adjustments to allow for mobile functionality. Once in a community, you will be able to:

Create posts
View, write, and reply to comments
Edit your own posts, comments, and replies
Delete your own posts, comments, and replies
Open links contained within a post
Follow (or unfollow) posts and threads
Like a post
Mention another user

Some of the community features you will need to access in the web (browser) version include:

Like a comment
View the user profile

Click to expand each of the dropdowns to learn more about how each feature works in the Mobile App:

Creating Posts

You can create posts on a main community screen or a specific space.

Open the community
From the main community screen, either navigate to the space that you would like to add a post to (under All Spaces), or create a post directly from the main community screen, by clicking +Post in the bottom right corner of the App.
Select the Space you want to add the post to
Add a Post title
(Optional) Include post details in the Body of your post for additional context
(Optional) Select +Add Media to include an image, video link, or file attachment (max file size 100MB)

Note: If you select +Add Media for the first time, an in-app popup window will ask you if you want to provide the Mobile App with access to the selected file types on your phone. You can allow access to select a file, or select Maybe Later to decline and continue posting without a media attachment.
Click Publish Post

Once your post is published, you will see a green banner along the bottom of the App confirming that your post has been created, and your post will open in the space it was created in.

By default, you are automatically added as a follower to any posts you create.

Viewing, writing, or replying to comments

You can comment on any post or another comment that you are interested in within your community!

Locate your desired post, and click on it to open it in full
At the bottom of the screen, click on Write a Comment. If you want to reply to a specific comment, find that comment and click on Reply.
In the comment field, input your desired text
(Optional) If you are replying to a comment, you can tag the person you are replying to (see instructions below)
(Optional) Include an image, video link, or file attachment (max file size 100MB)
Hit Send

By default, you are automatically added as a follower to any comments you create.

Editing your own posts, comments, and replies

Want to make a change to your post, comment, or reply? No problem! Once a post, a comment, or a reply has been created, you can select the ellipses (3 dot icon) to Edit them.

Once a post has been edited, it will display a status indicating that the post has been edited (see the post in the image above). If the post has not been edited, this space will be blank.

Deleting your own posts, comments, and replies

You can delete your own posts, comments, and replies. Once a post, comment, or reply has been created, you can select the ellipses (3 dot icon) to Delete them. You will see a popup asking you to confirm that you want to proceed with the deletion. Click Delete again to permanently delete your post, comment, or reply.

Deletion is permanent and irreversible. It is not possible to revert a deletion, so make sure you are deleting the correct post, comment, or reply.

Following and unfollowing posts and threads

You can follow posts and threads to receive notifications about new activity on posts you are interested in. Following a thread within a post will notify you when someone replies to that thread directly, but not the post itself.

If you create a new post or thread, you will automatically be added as a follower. You can always unfollow a post or thread if you no longer want to be notified of new activity. To follow or unfollow:

Locate your desired post, and click on it to open it in full
If you want to follow a specific thread, locate a comment within the post that you want to follow or unfollow
Click on theellipses (3 dot icon)
Select follow or unfollow thread (this will depend on whether you are currently following the thread or not). You can always update this again later if you wish to re-follow or unfollow the thread at a later date.

If someone mentions you in a post, you will be automatically assigned as a follower for that post.

Liking posts

If you like someone else's post, you can show your support by leaving a like! To do that, tap the heart button on a post. Once you liked the post, the like button will turn red. You can always tap the heart button again to remove the like.

The number of likes shows how many people liked the post.

Mentioning another user

If you want to address your post or comment to a specific user, you can mention them! To do that, type @ and start typing the name of the user you want to mention. Select the correct user from the available options.

Once you submit your post, comment, or reply, the person you tagged will be notified.

If someone mentions you in a post, you will be automatically assigned as a follower for that post.

Community Notifications

Mobile app notifications are a great way to keep track of events and activity in your communities!

You can follow posts to receive push, in-app, web, and email notifications for comment activity on posts you are interested in. If you create a new post, you will automatically be added as a follower. You can always unfollow a post if you no longer want to receive notifications.

The Notifications tab is where you will be able to view all of your community notifications. The in-app and push notifications are sent:

When you are added to a community
When an Admin creates a new post
When someone mentions you in a post
When someone comments on your post or a post you are following
When someone replies to your comment or a thread you are following

To access your notifications, select the Notifications tab in the Thinkific Mobile app. The number next to the bell on the Notifications tab will indicate the total number of new (unread) notifications. Unread notifications will have a blue dot next to them. To access the post where you were mentioned or to view a comment or a reply on the post you are following, click on the notification.

In addition to the in-app notifications, you can receive push notifications that will appear directly on your device. To start receiving push notifications, you will to grant the Thinkific Mobile app permission to send notifications to your mobile device. You can do that in the Notifications tab or directly in your device settings:

When you receive a push notification, you can click on it to be brought directly to the community or the post mentioned in the notification.

Email and Web App Notifications

In addition to the mobile app notifications, by default, you will receive email and web app notifications in these scenarios:

When you are added to a community
When an Admin creates a new post - a web app, in-app, and push notification only
When someone mentions you in a post
When someone comments on your post or a post you are following
When someone replies to your comment or a thread you are following

Viewing web app notifications in a browser will mark them as read in the mobile app and vice versa.

Read more on the email and web app notifications here: Community Guide (Student Resource).

Important Considerations

You will only see communities you are enrolled in.
It is not possible to customize the in-app notifications you receive, however, you can unfollow specific posts individually if you do not want to get updates about new comments or replies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I enroll in a community from within the Mobile App?

Not at this time. You will need to use the web (browser) version to enroll in any communities before you will be able to access them using the Mobile App.

Can I unsubscribe from in-app notifications? Or can I specify which in-app notifications I want to receive?

It is not possible to unsubscribe from in-app or web app notifications or customize which in-app notifications you receive. You can unfollow specific posts individually if you do not want to get updates about new comments or replies. You can also unsubscribe from all email community notifications by following the instructions here: Community Guide (Student Resource).